This invention is directed to data processing systems designed to facilitate commercial, financial and educational transactions between multimedia terminals such as automated sales workstations, information dispensing networks and self-service banking systems. Specifically this invention is directed to a tool for augmentation of sales and marketing capabilities of travel agency personnel in conjunction with computerized airline reservation systems. This invention also relates to financial service application processing, and interactive delivery of informative, educational and recreational audio-visual programs to the home, school or office.
In the preferred embodiments of the invention, travel agents are able to synergistically compose individual customized sales presentations and itineraries for their clients, representing thousands of tour destinations and criteria, from multiple permutations of data sources in a fully automated fashion.
During the 1980s airline reservation systems evolved into very sophisticated information networks. A majority of travel agencies in North America subscribe to one of the major computerized reservation systems; Sabre, Apollo, System One, or WORLDSPAN. Prior to the development of computerized reservation systems in the 1970s, a travel agent would read airline schedules from either the North American or International edition of Official Airline Guides (OAG), printed directories which are published monthly, then telephone the specific airline to reserve-and confirm passenger flights and physically write the airline tickets. The advent of computerized reservation systems allowed the travel agent to access computerized travel data banks, reserve, confirm and transact airline, hotel or car rental reservations with a `dumb terminal` comprised of; keyboard entry of customer requirements in conjunction with a display terminal and ticket printer, connected to the centralized reservation service. The Mar. 19, 1985 testimony of Robert L. Crandall, President of American Airlines, Inc., before the Aviation Subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation details the evolution of computerized reservation systems in the United States.
Travel agency employees, who produce approximately seventy-five percent of the computerized reservation systems volume, now enjoy a more productive and accurate means to process reservations, an important part of their service functions. A simultaneous sector of a travel agent's employment is the ability to promote, advise, select and sell appropriate travel and tour destinations for their clients. Agencies generate approximately fifty percent of car rental bookings, seventy percent of domestic air travel sales and ninety percent of international flights.
Travel agents sell nearly ninety percent of all cruise line bookings and virtually ninety percent of all tour packages. This business represents the most profitable segment of the multi-billion dollar travel agency sales volume, since higher commissions are earned on tour/cruise bookings as compared with point-to-point airline ticketing. The ability of a travel agent to effectively consult with their clients depends upon several factors including; knowledge of the destination, familiarization tours the agent may have taken to the area, attendance at travel/tour seminars and conferences and reading reference literature such as Fordor's travel publications.
A travel professional accumulates extensive knowledge which is extremely valuable to the travel agency business and is in fact, the single most important element which differentiates one agent from another. Unfortunately, this knowledge requires years of experience to acquire. The physical requirements to visit and inspect even a portion of popular tourist destinations dictates a significant investment of time and monetary expense. Additionally, tourist localities are seldom static; new hotels or attractions and changing custom regulations require a constant monitoring of hundreds of potential vacation sites.
The current state-of-the-art of the tour, cruise and vacation market segments is similar in many respects to the pre-computerized reservation systems airline era. A travel agent must consult several directories; i.e., Hotel and Travel Index, OAG Travel Planner, OAG Worldwide Tour Guide or OAG Worldwide Cruise and Shipline Guides and scores of travel brochures in an attempt to offer the client information for an informed travel decision. Most of these directories are published quarterly so therefore prices or schedules are frequently out-of-date and inaccurate. If the client is conferring in person, with the agent in the office, this task is complicated by the reliance on numerous publications to describe a particular vacation. This often results in a time-consuming, disorganized and ineffective sales presentation since each client's itinerary has different requirements. Answering a client's questions is dependent upon the knowledge a travel agent has acquired. Since `travel` is an intangible product, the communicative skills of the travel agent are paramount to success. The client relies on the travel agent's advice in making important vacation decisions.
Several specialized tour planning concepts emerged in the 1970s including publications such as Fishing Resorts of The World, which presented sportfishing tour packages in an organized and informative manner and audio-visual presentations of tour destinations such as TRAVEL-VISION which were linear in design. These travel marketing concepts, both created by applicant, had inherent limitations as discussed herein.
The travel industry, comprising 33,000 agencies, does not sell a single mass market product, but rather is a reflection of the population as a whole with its infinite individual customer profiles of demographic, regional and fields of special interest. One client may desire information on a river-rafting tour in Wyoming while the next customer needs assistance in planning an art tour of Paris, France. Therefore, it is imperative that the travel agent have available a wide variety of information in an organized system which allows convenient and standardized access for both the agent and client.
A recent study of the American labor force, Work Force 2000: Work and Workers for the Twenty-first Century, commissioned by the United States Department of Labor, indicates serious shortages of skilled workers in the service sector economy will impact the United States during the 1990's and into the next century. In addition to labor shortages in many skilled service sector industries, it is predicted that a mismatch of employee skills to available jobs will result in a shrinking labor pool of skilled workers which will inevitably increase wages. Travel agency functions are predominantly labor intensive, therefore labor shortages of skilled workers will significantly impact the quality of service they provide.
All travel agencies essentially market the same products and represent the same suppliers, therefore as a service sector industry it is incumbent that individual sales skills and support systems be as comprehensive and efficient as possible. Since the travel industry is highly dependent upon knowledgeable professionals, requiring years of experience, it portends that a more efficient travel/tour sales and training system be implemented to compensate and increase the productivity of the travel agent.
Thus, there is a continuing need to provide the means to assist travel agency personnel and their clients with a more responsive and efficient; educational, training, sales and service system.
A first alternate embodiment of the invention relates to multimedia terminals used by banking institutions to make their services, such as loan processing, available at all hours of the day from various remote locations.
Loan processing has traditionally been a labor-intensive business which represents the major activity of banks and other financial institutions. In the processing of a loan application, numerous forms have to be filled-out, loan officers have to explain payment schedules and generally guide the applicant through the loan application process. The financial institution then has to process the application and either telephone, mail, or communicate acceptance or rejection of the loan in person to the applicant. The complexity of the process has so far prevented the application of automatic terminals to perform this important part of financial institution activities. Interactive multimedia terminals have evolved to a high degree of sophistication as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,631 Lockwood, et al. Yet, this high degree of sophistication has not been put to use in the more complex types of goods and services distribution which require a great deal of interaction between individuals and institutions.
A second alternate embodiment of the invention relates to an improvement of a system for automatically dispensing information, products and services by means of stored prerecorded audio-visual presentations telegenically transmitted from a remote site to sales and information terminals in the home under the command of customers with easy-to-use communication equipment that does not require formal computer literate training.
Service providers have traditionally communicated and marketed information and products to consumers in their homes by way of newspapers, magazines, mail order catalogs, direct mail, telephone, radio and television. None of these communication methods allow consumers to interactively display alternate audio-visual sales presentations for transactional order fulfillment. Lately, videotex has emerged as a supplement to traditional product ordering methods. Beginning in 1978, British Telecom established a videotex service named `Prestel` planned for a mass consumer market. Videotex, a textual display, is not designed nor intended to deliver full color prerecorded audio-visual presentations. Videotex typically requires computer operating knowledge and a personal computer with modem for access. Subsequently several major attempts at introducing videotex in North America have failed and surviving operators have maintained a limited user base. A fundamental reason for the unsuccessful acceptance of videotex is that it requires reading of computer generated text. Conversely, the American consumer has become accustomed to a high degree of television quality programming from sporting events and news to popular movies broadcasted daily.
Interactive delivery of information, goods and services to consumers by means of multimedia terminals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,359,631 and 4,567,359 using a central processor, audio-visual data sources, CRT, keyboard and remote communication capabilities.
It would be desirable to provide such a system accessible to consumers from their homes or workplace.
Typically consumers have had to travel to multiple stores and shop for products. This is both time-consuming and involves transportation expenses. Certain segments of the population, for example disabled persons and the elderly have been restricted in their ability to compare product features and prices. The system could also allow service suppliers and product manufacturers to communicate directly with consumers and present products, take orders and ship purchases from a central or regional warehouse facility. This would reduce the expense of maintaining retail stores, inventory, sales personnel, overhead and general distribution costs while providing services to hundreds or thousands of homes and offices throughout a community.
Preferably such a system would incorporate; a central data processing center, audio-visual data sources, a CRT for displaying information, communication links and a keyboard for control of the remote data sources. Additionally, such a system would allow consumers an opportunity to communicate with product and service providers to place orders, and to process commercial transactions.
Interactive audio-visual communication systems using television and telephone common carrier networks are now possible based on some of the techniques disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,668,307 Face et al., 3,691,295 Fisk, 3,746,780 Stetten et al., 3,752,908 Boenke et al., 4,054,911 Fletcher et al., 4,064,490 Nagel, 4,251,691 Kakihara et al., 4,264,925 Freeman et al., and 4,553,222 Kurland et al.
Research reveals that the average person retains about 25 percent of what they hear and 45 percent of what they see and hear. Retention levels increase dramatically to 70 percent of what a person sees, hears and performs if an interactive sequence is available. Therefore the persuasive power of interactive full color multimedia presentations would be an ideal means to market products and services. This in-home information delivery system could also provide a conduit for educational, medical and other important informational services.